Voluntariado Irlanda con personas desfavorecidas

Sobre el proyecto

Hosting provide services to people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in Galway. Volunteers work alongside qualified members of staff in our residential services and their role is to support staff in maintaining the high standard of care provided by the organisation. Working alongside qualified members of staff will allow volunteers to gain an insight into the area of Social Care. The volunteering opportunity is particularly beneficial to volunteers who are thinking of pursuing a career in Social Care. The day to day work in our services gives volunteers an insight into the issues surrounding homelessness, including a greater awareness of the causes of homelessness and the impact it has on individuals.

Volunteers are at the core of the Galway Simon Community’s work and they have played a vital role since the beginning. We are committed to ensuring volunteers are valued and respected by all in the organisation and are valued members of our teams. We ensure that each volunteer is supported and trained to the highest standard. We recognise the vital and important role each volunteer contributes to our Community.

Actividades voluntarios

Our Full Time Volunteers are involved in a variety of activities during the course of their voluntary work. The ranges of activities the volunteers are involved in provide many learning opportunities, which focus on non-formal learning. This ensures the most beneficial learning experience for the volunteers. Activities include assisting residents with life skills, accompanying residents on appointments, assisting with house work, maintaining administration records, assisting with cooking, arranging leisure activities for residents, working as part of a team and supporting residents with social and educational activities. Full-time volunteers are actively encouraged to participate in and contribute to team meetings. The main element in the volunteering role is to develop positive

working relationships with the residents. Volunteers are also involved in the organisation of day trips for residents, accompanying them to the cinema and encouraging residents to engage in social activities. All such activities are supported through supervision, mentoring and training.

All volunteers are encouraged be innovative and create new activities to engage the clients and to learn from the new experience themselves. Any suitable activity they wish to explore will be supported and assisted by the whole team and they will have the opportunity to plan the activity from start to finish. At the end of the activity the volunteer will meet with their supervisor and evaluate the activity. They will discuss what went well, what did not go so well and what they would do differently if they were planning the same or similar activity in the future. They will document their findings and use this as a learning experience. Some examples could include cooking a cultural meal in which the residents are actively involved, holding arts and craft classes or music workshops. We encourage and include each volunteer in different activities with the view to giving them a wider range of experiences. Previously we had a volunteer with an interest in journalism and writing and they were encouraged to facilitate a group with clients to produce a Galway Simon Newsletter which shares information with everyone in the organisation. This involved teaching clients basic computer skills. For the volunteer this was an opportunity to develop their own skills, gain confidence and share their skills with others.

Cork Simon Community works with those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the Cork region. The people we work with have many complex needs including addiction issues and mental and physical health issues. Cork Simon was founded in 1971 by volunteers and Voluntarism has remained at the heart of what we do and indeed is one of our core values. Our commitment to the volunteer experience led us to develop our project with the aim of engaging young people with regards to the issue of homelessness and the various topics that surround it.

We value the enthusiasm of the young people that come to us through this project and the experience and

background that they bring. Our volunteers work in an empowering way with our residents and service users to aid staff in giving them the care and support that they need. Central to this is the building of positive relationships with our residents and this is a key part of the work that our participants do. The purpose of this project is to foster an understanding of Inclusion as related to homelessness. Our project hopes to instil in our volunteers a passion for, and understanding of, social justice and inclusion through non-formal learning methods and intercultural learning. Our participants will get hands-on experience of working in an empowering way with our residents. Our 5 EVS participants work across our 5 residential houses and carry out a range of tasks from practical things like helping with cooking and cleaning to spending time doing activities with our residents and developing activities and projects based on their own skills and interests. Our volunteers undergo a high level of personal development during their time with us and they are supported through this through regular supervision, monthly mentoring sessions and training. At all times the emphasis is on reflective practice and volunteers are given the space to reflect on what they are learning and how it is impacting on them. The nature of the work that they do means that there is a huge

emphasis on experiential learning. The volunteers also learn a huge array of skills through the

various trainings that they attend during their time with us. From our experience of working with volunteers we have seen the impact the project has on them. The level of personal development and learning that they go through is something that they will take with them throughout their life. From their completed Youthpass, exit interviews and communication with them once they have returned we have learned the enormous impact that our project has had on people with past volunteers

reporting that it had changed their view of homeless people and their attitudes towards topics such as social justice, addiction and mental health. Volunteers also reported that they felt that the skills they have learned will enhance their employability in whichever sector they chose to work in. A high number leave us to return to university where many have chosen to study a career in the Social Sector in the areas of Social Work, Psychology, Medicine, Social Policy, Politics etc. We envisage that there is huge potential impact for our project on a wider European scale as our participants carry what they have learned during their time with Cork Simon with them as they move forward with their chosen careers. The knowledge they have acquired then being passed on to family, friends, co- workers etc. We fully believe that this will lead to greater awareness of homelessness, its causes and effects, at European level. As we mentioned earlier we feel that they youth of today are the policy makers of tomorrow so the more they learn about these issues the greater the impact on future housing and social policies and ultimately the outcomes for some of society’s most vulnerable

people..

We will study carefully all applications and selected candidates will be invited for a Skype interview. The selection of volunteers will take place in the upcoming weeks.

For the selection of the volunteers we will need:

– Europass CV with picture (made in the last month) with Skype username included.

– Motivational letter, writing that your sending organisation will be “Building Bridges”. We ask all candidates to send a specific letter of motivation – why they want to volunteer with us rather than just a general EVS one. The volunteer is chosen according to his/her motivation and interest in the project and the activities. It will be paid special attention to cover letters.

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